no title

Editorial

Get some traction

Constitutional-revision panel has spun wheels for two years

About our Editorials

Dispatch editorials express the view of the
Dispatch editorial board, which is made up of the publisher, the president of
The Dispatch, the editor and the editorial-writing staff. As is the traditional newspaper
practice, the editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the newspaper.
Comments and questions should be directed to the
editorial page editor.

The state’s Constitutional Modernization Commission has before it important work that affects the daily lives of every Ohioan, yet two years have passed with no significant work being produced.

Those selected to serve on this important panel should remember the historic responsibility they bear and get this project under way.

The bipartisan panel, established by the legislature in late 2011, is to update a vintage-1851 Constitution that mandates government’s duties and limits its powers. The importance of the job can’t be overstated: The commission is to search out solutions for long-simmering issues and put them before the legislature to debate, refine and send to the people for a vote.

But the commission has been mired in politics and hindered by a lack of leadership, The Dispatch reported on Sunday.

It has yet to name an executive director, who will hire a staff. Asked why, House Speaker William G. Batchelder, R-Medina, responded, “That’s a complex question.”

Further, unlike a 1970s panel headed by community leaders, lawmakers co-chair this group: “Unfortunately, in this environment, everything is more partisan,” said Rep. Mike Curtin, D-Marble Cliff, who recently was appointed to the panel.

In hindsight, this is a flaw in the structure of the panel. But members of the commission should remember that this is a job requiring statesmanship, not partisanship.

Turf protection has been another problem: Commissioners told the newspaper that Senate leaders were displeased that, until a week ago, both of the co-chairs were from the House. “So they were throwing tacks under the tires for a while,” Curtin said. Now a state senator has been named as co-chair.

This “hobbling start,” as Curtin put it, is beyond frustrating. The commission was given a 10-year term, until July 2021, in which to propose constitutional changes. This doesn’t mean members should wait 10 years before proposing changes. The idea was that the panel would propose a series of revisions over that decade. But two years have passed with no action. That’s unjustified, considering the weighty issues worthy of consideration. These include:

• Re-examining term limits.

• Solving the perennial school-funding question.

• Reviewing the rules governing how initiatives are put on the statewide ballot.

• Revising how congressional districts are drawn. Gerrymandering, employed by the party in power at the time, has carved up the state into safe political districts where moderate candidates and compromise are less likely to prevail. The result is today’s bitter gridlock.

The panel first convened on Dec. 28, 2011, and seemed to be progressing at a reasonable pace, but somewhere along the line, it faltered. A crawler still running across the top of the commission’s website this week says, “The Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission will meet on Thursday, November 14, 2013.”

It says something negative when the group charged with modernizing the state constitution, which involves reaching out for public comment, is working with an outdated website. Then again, the panel lacks a director and a staff.

Commissioners serving on this panel bring a range of experience and a reputation for accomplishment. They are quite capable of suggesting thoughtful and comprehensive reforms. They should get to it.